You can now register to attend as a member of a thematic "working group."If you attend in this way, you will rank order the themes which interest you (up to three) and you will work at the conference with a team of peers drafting an action plan. (See the program proposal form for information on the themes.)

The registration deadline is May 20, 2009. Please mail-in the registration form.(NOTE: If you are a presenter at the conference, the preferred thematic

working group that you mark on your registration form should be the same as

the thematic group in which you are presenting.)

Seats for the conference are limited to 150.

Housing information

We have agreements with both local hotels and dorms. If you would like a dorm room, please note this on the registration form.

To receive this rate, call 630-782-6300 and make your reservation using the group code NCTC BEFORE April 30, 2009.

Transportation to the campus is provided by the hotel.

Travel to the Hotel: The taxi cab service the hotel recommends is 303 Taxi. Their phone number is 847-256-8294 and Spring Hill Suites' special account number is 7826. If you need a ride, please call as soon as you get your bags. There are usually taxi's at the airport, and they just need to know the terminal where you are located. The flat rate to or from O'Hare is $21.

Keynote speakers and program information...

Conference Schedule

Thursday: Check-in begins at 4:00 p.m.

Friday: General session begins at 9:30 a.m. with panels and working groups from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Saturday: General session begins at 8:30 a.m. with panels and working groups from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Sunday: General session begins at 8:30 a.m. with the conference ending at noon

The Conference will begin Thursday afternoon/evening with check-in and a reception. The program will begin Friday morning and wrap-up around 12 pm on Sunday. For Presenters: Individual panel presentations and roundtables will take place on Friday and Saturday afternoon. We will provide you with further details on the date and time of your presentation in late April.

We are excited to announce that this Conference will feature the following keynote speakers:

Leila Christenbury, Professor of English Education at Virginia Commonwealth University, will share her experiences returning to the high school classroom after being an English educator for many years, as described in her award winning book Retracing the Journey: Teaching and Learning in an American High School (Teachers College Press, 2007). Christenbury's book recently won CEE's James N. Britton Award.

Anne Ruggles Gere, Professor of English and Education at the University of Michigan and director of the Squire Office for Policy Research for NCTE, will speak about connections between research and English education policy making.

As part of the Conference, you are encouraged to sign up to participate in one of the seven thematic working groups listed below. The conference will combine the benefit of a traditional conference (panels, roundtables, keynote speeches) with the more intimate, goal oriented format of a working retreat.

21st Century Literacies and English Teacher Education

Preparing Teachers to Teach Literature in a Globalized World

Preparing Teachers to Teach Composition in a Globalized World

Preparing Teachers to Close the Achievement Gap

The Future of Graduate Studies and Professional Mentoring in English Education

Effective Assessment and Accreditation of English Education Programs

Priming Social Justice for Policy in English Education

At the CEE Conference you will also have opportunities to learn about:

other exciting research initiatives being undertaken by English educators to enrich our knowledge of effective English teaching and English teacher education.

From the conference planning committee...

The world of English teacher education today is fraught with many challenges, from unforeseen policy initiatives to which we must respond and accreditation visits which often seem inconsistent with our work, to preparing new English teachers to teach an increasingly diverse student body while working in an increasingly restrictive environment. We face these professional challenges while trying to do the work we have always joyfully done: preparing new teachers of English language arts to be as successful as possible in educating today's young people to be literate, clear thinking, and inquisitive citizens who can read, write, and communicate effectively within various contexts and for multiple purposes.

This CEE conference will build on the previous two CEE Leadership and Policy Summits, "fast forwarding" their productive, yet largely philosophical, discussions into the realms of teacher education classroom practice, teacher mentoring, professional development, and goal-centered political advocacy. As the conference title suggests, the aim of this conference is to put our previous efforts developing comprehensive belief and policy statements into real-world practice, with the overarching objective being to begin to implement previously articulated policy initiatives through the creation of written "action plans." These draft action plans will be reviewed by the CEE Executive Committee following the June conference and are subject to the committee's approval before being published or acted upon. The conference will be open to any CEE member and will be comprised of a combination of working groups built around thematic strands as well as more traditional conference presentations and keynote addresses.